30 But now they mock e me,

men younger than I am,

whose fathers I would have refused to put

with my sheep dogs.

2 What use to me was the strength of their hands?

Their vigor had left them.

3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger,

they gnawed the dry land,

the desolate wasteland by night.

4 They plucked mallow f g among the shrubs,

and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

5 They were expelled from human society;

people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

6 They are living on the slopes of the * wadis,

among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

7 They bray among the shrubs;

they huddle beneath the thistles.

8 Foolish h men, without even a name.

They were forced to leave the land.

9 Now I am mocked by their songs; i

I have become an object of scorn to them.

10 They despise me and keep their distance from me; j

they do not hesitate to spit k in my face.

11 Because God has loosened my l bowstring and oppressed me,

they have cast off restraint in my presence. m

12 The rabble n rise up at my right;

they trap o my feet

and construct their siege ramp p against me. q

13 They tear up my path;

they contribute to my destruction, r

without anyone to help them.

14 They advance as through a gaping breach;

they keep rolling in through the ruins. s

15 Terrors t are turned loose against me;

they chase my dignity away like the wind,

and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

16 Now my life is poured out before my eyes,

and days of suffering u have seized me.

17 Night pierces my bones,

but my gnawing pains never rest. v

18 My clothing is distorted with great force;

He chokes me by the neck of my garment. w

19 He throws me into the mud,

and I have become like dust and ashes. x

20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; y

when I stand up, You merely look at me.

21 You have turned against me with cruelty;

You harass z me with Your strong hand.

22 You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;

You scatter me in the storm. a

23 Yes, I know that You will lead me to death—

the place b appointed for all who live.

24 Yet no one would stretch out his hand

against a ruined man c

when he cries out to him for help

because of his distress. d

25 Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?

Has my soul not grieved for the needy? e

26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, darkness f came.

27 I am churning within g and cannot rest;

days of suffering confront me.

28 I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. h

I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin blackens and flakes off, i

and my bones burn with fever. j

31 My lyre is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping. k